1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system for optimizing performance in a data processing system. Still more particularly, the present invention provides for the correction of information in a received electronic mail.
2. Description of the Related Art:
As the Internet has matured, so has electronic mail which is also referred to as e-mail. However, humans make errors even with features such as e-mail spell checkers and other tools provided by e-mail client software known as e-mail clients. One example of a human error that may occur is when an e-mail user acts as an e-mail sender by sending out an e-mail to a group of e-mail recipients and enters erroneous information in the e-mail. Erroneous information in an e-mail may be mistyped text, erroneous information may be omitted information, or erroneous information may be any included or attached information that an e-mail sender believes to be correct but which is actually incorrect.
If the e-mail sender enters erroneous information in an e-mail addressed to only one e-mail recipient, the solution is manageable. After detecting the erroneous information in the e-mail, the sender may correct the erroneous information in a copy of the e-mail and re-send the corrected copy of the e-mail to the e-mail recipient.
However, when an e-mail sender sends out an e-mail to a group of e-mail recipients and enters erroneous information in the e-mail, additional problems may arise. One such problem is illustrated by the following example. An e-mail sender, Oprah, sends out an e-mail to the following e-mail recipients: Bob, Sam, and John, whose e-mail addresses are bob@abc.net, sam@ibm.com, and johni@ln.abc.net, respectively. However, Oprah enters erroneous information in the e-mail, such as an erroneous street address for a meeting.
John, one of the recipients, may detect the erroneous information in the e-mail and correct the erroneous information in a copy of the e-mail. John has a first option of sending a copy of the corrected e-mail with the corrected information to all of the other original recipients, Bob and Sam, as well as the e-mail sender, Oprah. John also has a second option of sending a copy of the corrected e-mail with the corrected information to Oprah alone, which is an often used approach. A received e-mail is an e-mail that a mail server has transferred to the e-mail client for the e-mail recipient. An e-mail recipient of a received e-mail is anyone whose e-mail client received the transferred e-mail.
The problem with the first option is that both Bob and Sam will receive two e-mails with essentially the same content, the original e-mail with the erroneous information, and the second corrected e-mail with the corrected information and essentially the same content as the original e-mail. This problem is amplified when the e-mail sender sends the e-mail to a large number of intended e-mail recipients. The problem with the second option occurs if Oprah does not notify Bob or Sam in time of the correction made by John to the erroneous information. Bob and Sam may act upon the erroneous information in the original e-mail under the second option because Bob and Sam have only the original e-mail with the erroneous information.
These and similar problems result in greater overhead in terms of data transmission in addition to a tedious correction process.